The Marauders of Hogwarts: Year One
by RacheLynne
Summary: As the Marauders begin their years at Hogwarts, witness the legendary group as they meet for the first time, the development of lifelong animosities, and the first moments of first loves.
1. Chapter 1: The Platform

_**A/N: **__I tried this once before but for some reason it never finished - I decided to start over rather than picking back up so much later. It's a fun thing to do in between chapters of my Sherlock stuff, and a little lighter and more fun. I'm thinking each year will have its own story. And remember everybody, reviews are better than sex. Thanks a million!_

* * *

James Potter was bored.

Lily Evans was thrilled.

Severus Snape was nervous.

And all three had that feeling that one gets before one starts something new - that strangely beautiful emptiness that comes from looking straight ahead into the unknown.

It's safe to say that all three children absolutely loved it.

"Now, Jamie, you're absolutely certain you have everything?" James' mother asked for the millionth time. "Not forgetting a textbook or a set of robes or anything?"

The sufficiently embarrassed eleven year old boy rolled his eyes. "For the last time, mum, I checked twice. I have everything."

"You're certain?"

James nodded. "I'm certain."

"If you're sure…" Mrs. Potter leaned over and kissed her son's cheek. "Have a good year. We'll miss you!"

Mr. Potter, who was much more in check with the level of James' embarrassment, simply clapped the boy on the shoulder. "Have fun, son. But not too much fun." With this, Mr. Potter winked and added a quick "Goodbye" before stepping back and allowing James to shut the compartment door.

Sighing, the dark-haired young boy sat down. The train ride to Hogwarts had always been inevitable for him, so he wasn't particularly excited. In fact, he was mostly dreading spending the next several hours in a state of pure boredom.

Chewing on his lip, James sat back in his seat. Yes, this train ride would be rather dull with no one to prank and no one to joke with. But as the door to his compartment slid open and an unfamiliar face took a seat across from him without really asking, James' expression (or lack thereof) shifted to its usual smirk. Depending on how his new companion was, maybe the rest of the afternoon wouldn't be so bad after all.

Lily took her companion's hand in her own and squeezed it with a huge smile on her face. "Can you believe it, Sev? We're really here! We're finally here!"

Severus nodded silently, and his black eyes seemed to take in every detail of the scene around him. "Unbelievable, isn't it?" He murmured.

Glancing at her friend, Lily could clearly see that he was lost somewhere deep in his own thoughts. His lack of enthusiasm didn't faze the redhead, however - her smile not flickering in the slightest, she pulled her hand from his and turned to her sister and parents. "I'm going to miss you so much!" She exclaimed.

Mr. and Mrs. Evans beamed down at their daughter, each kneeling in turn to hug her. "We'll miss you too, darling," Mrs. Evans assured her daughter, while her husband nodded in agreement.

The only family member not joining in the sentiment, it seemed, was Lily's older sister. Petunia stood some ten feet away, her arms crossed and her expression bitter. This, of course, only caused Lily to stand and cross over to her.

"I'll miss you, too, Tuney," Lily assured her sister with a sweet smile. Although it seemed that the younger Evans girl longed for a hug and a goodbye, Petunia was sixteen and above such trivial displays of affection. She simply looked down at her younger sister with disdain.

"Won't you miss your sister, Petunia?" Mrs. Evans urged, nudging her older daughter with her elbow.

Petunia rolled her eyes. "Sure. I guess."

Resisting the urge to imitate Petunia's gesture, Mrs. Evans once again smiled at Lily. "You'd better be home at Christmas. I'll see you then. I love you."

"I love you, too," Lily reciprocated, and with that she took Severus' hand once more and pulled him onto the train.

Severus had to admit he was a bit surprised when Lily took his hand and squeezed it, and though the gesture was meant to be comforting, it did nothing to ease the nervousness in the pit of his stomach.

"Can you believe it, Sev? We're really here! We're finally here!" Severus couldn't help but smile slightly at his friend's excitement, but the knots in his stomach made the smile look sickly and he quickly wiped it from his face.

"Unbelievable, isn't it?" The boy had intended to share in the redhead's enthusiasm, but he was too focused on not looking terrified to sound particularly jovial. Thankfully, he didn't have to act for long, because at that point Lily turned to say her goodbyes to her family.

When Severus himself turned, all he saw was his mother. Tobias hadn't turned up in days, which was perfectly fine as far as Severus was concerned. He hadn't wanted to say goodbye to his no-good father anyway.

"Well, Severus, will I be seeing you at Christmas?" Mrs. Snape - Ms. Prince, as she remained in Severus' mind - asked.

The young wizard considered this question a moment. "I should think not," he answered finally. "Unless it's particularly abysmal at school, I'll most likely stay there for the holidays."

Observing his mother's expression, it occurred to Severus that this answer may have disappointed her, and she was in fact opening her mouth to protest that Lily would be coming home when she seemed to think better of it. "Okay then, I'll see you in June."

"I'll see you then," the boy answered, and only a brief moment of awkward silence passed between the pair before Severus felt a tug on his wrist and suddenly found himself being pulled away in the direction of the train and the long journey that would take him at last to his new school.


	2. Chapter 2: The Train Part One

"What's your name?" James asked the newcomer to his compartment the moment the other boy say down.

"Sirius." James' new dark haired companion answered, stretching out across two seats. "Black," he added reluctantly when the other boy appeared to be expecting a last name.

James' eyes widened - he couldn't help it. "Black?" He repeated, an edge of nervousness to his generally confident voice.

Sirius nodded, pulling a face. "And my family is all nutters," he added, so that his companion wouldn't get the wrong idea. "What's your name?"

"James Potter," James replied, the cockiness returning to his now more relaxed tone. He had always been quite proud of his family name.

"So that's why you don't like Blacks," Sirius observed with an understanding nod. "I suppose you wouldn't, with parents so high up in the ministry."

James nodded with a grin. "Exactly."

Sirius shrugged, shaking longish dark hair out of his eyes. "I suppose that's one thing we've got in common, then," he remarked. "I don't reckon I like them much more than you do."

"Really?" James asked lazily, mirroring his companion's position and stretching out. "Why is that?"

"Well, you should know, of all people," Sirius scoffed. "They're all mental! I've got one sane cousin and an uncle that's decent, and aside from that…" His voice trailed off. The sentence didn't really need finishing.

James nodded. "Yeah, there's one relative of yours - Bellatrix -"

"Cousin. I'm sure there are better things to talk about than her," Sirius interrupted, suddenly becoming very pale.

James decided not to question this and instead rummaged through his bag a moment. Soon, he emerged with a triumphant smirk and an object in his hand. "Exploding Snap?" He offered, and Sirius enthusiastically nodded.

* * *

Lily alternated between having her nose pressed against the window and buried in one of her new and fascinating textbooks. Once in a while she would take a break for air, at which point she would engage Severus in a bit of conversation.

"Sev, I'm so glad you were right!" She exclaimed about half an hour in, causing the black haired boy to turn away from the window and face her. "I mean, you told me before that I was a witch, but I didn't think it could be true, but…" she grinned widely. "It is!"

Severus smiled at his friend in an almost adoring fashion. "I told you it was true!" He paused for a moment, then: "Lily?"

"Yeah?" The redhead replied, looking up from the book she'd already started back in on.

"I'm glad you're here with me," said Severus with a small smile.

Lily chewed her lip for a moment, glancing out the window at the rolling green fields. She then turned back to Severus with a grin. "So am I."

* * *

Severus was content to sit back in his seat on the train and stare out the window. From time to time he'd watch Lily in her excitement for a bit - it was nice, how perfectly happy she seemed here.

After a while, the girl turned to him, and Severus quickly looked out the window, pretending he hadn't been watching, though he knew she'd speak to him in a moment.

He was very correct about this, as it happened, and so a few seconds later his favourite voice in the world said: "Sev, I'm so glad you were right! I mean, you told me before that I was a witch, but I didn't think it could be true, but…" She smiled at him, and her emerald eyes sparkled with excitement. "It is!"

"I told you it was true!" Severus exclaimed with a smile. However, he felt his grin falter as he took a moment to get out the next thing he wanted to say. "Lily?"

"Yeah?" The young witch replied, looking back up from her textbook and tugging absently at a strand of red hair.

"I'm glad you're here with me," he told her, trying and failing to cover a smile.

Severus was nervous for a moment when Lily didn't respond, but eventually she turned back to him with that smile of hers. "So am I," she told him, and Severus thought it might be the best thing he'd ever heard her say.

* * *

**_A/N:_ **I hope you're enjoying so far! I wasn't so sure about this format, but I think I like it. Let me know what you think of it! Reviews are better than lemonade in the middle of August!


	3. Chapter 3: The Train Part Two

James and Sirius were on their third game of Exploding Snap and their fifth round of sweets from the trolley when the door to their compartment opened. They looked up to see a redheaded girl and a boy with longish black hair that was inexcusably greasy, both first years.

"We came back to see what all the noise was," the girl told the pair irritably without bothering to introduce herself.

"Exploding Snap," James explained with a goofy, lopsided grin. The girl, he noticed, was very pretty, though his first impression of her was that she seemed a bit annoying.

"Care to join us?" Sirius added cheerfully, raising his eyebrows at the two newcomers invitingly.

"No," the boy answered immediately without giving it a second thought.

James wrinkled his nose. "Well, someone doesn't like to have any fun," he noticed, folding his arms. "What could you possibly have against Exploding Snap?"

"It's annoyingly loud, for one thing," the girl put in. "What even is it, honestly? It doesn't look that great."

James' eyes widened. "You've never played a game of Exploding Snap? Oh, you have to join us! Your friend here can leave, though, if he wants. What's your name, anyway?"

"Lily Evans," the girl answered stiffly, making no move to sit down. "And I'll be leaving with Sev, thank you very much."

James snorted. "Sev? What's that short for?"

"Severus," the boy answered. "I can speak for myself, you know."

James and Sirius both laughed at this. "Severus?" Asked James. "Snivellus is more like it," he muttered to Sirius, who laughed once more. "What house are you hoping for, Snivellus? Hopefully wherever you end up has better showers than wherever you came from."

"Slytherin," Severus answered coldly. "Is there one for arrogant gits where you could go?"

"I'm going to be in Gryffindor," James informed him, sitting up a bit straighter. "Why on earth would you want to be in Slytherin on purpose?"

The girl called Lily Evans narrowed her eyes. "Prats. C'mon, Sev. And you two, quiet down a bit, you're annoying everybody." With that, Lily turned around and exited the compartment, her friend following close behind.

"James Potter, by the way, nice to meet you!" James called after their retreating forms.

"Sirius Black!" Sirius added, and as the door to the compartment shut, both boys started to laugh so hard they doubled over.

* * *

It wasn't long before the explosions from the next compartment started again, and Lily rolled her eyes. "Arrogant prats."

For some reason, this made Severus smile slightly. "They are, aren't they? Of course, Gryffindor is full of arrogant prats…"

"Well, that's not fair," Lily reasoned. "What if you or I ends up in Gryffindor?"

"I'll be in Slytherin, and you'll be Ravenclaw for sure," Severus assured the girl.

Lily looked slightly saddened by this. "That means we won't be together," she said dejectedly. "I'll be all alone and… what if everyone else hates me?"

"No one hates you, Lily," Severus reminded her with a watery smile. "It's impossible."

"Tuney hates me," said Lily with a pout, but Severus wouldn't hear it.

"Petunia does not hate you and neither does anyone else," he argued. "And that's that. Now, let's not talk about it anymore."

Lily nodded, trying to keep the sadness out of her green eyes. "Alright. New topic," she agreed, and they quickly got back to the discussion on the Potions textbook that they'd been having before.

* * *

Severus maintained polite conversation through the rest of the train ride. They talked about trivial things like Lily's apprehensions for the upcoming school year and the differences between the Houses.

However, the young wizard's mind continued to wander. Those boys in the other compartment - they didn't even know him and already they were teasing him. Secretly, he had some of the same worries as his friend. Would everyone treat him the way those two did?

However, his method of handling it was very different from Lily's. He would never just tell her all of this - she would think he was weak and he would lose the one friend he knew for sure that he had. No, he would handle people like those two pricks himself.

Severus had always had an above-average interest in dark magic, ever since he learned that he was a wizard. Even as a small child, this forbidden area of magic fascinated him. He'd been learning all he could since long before he'd gotten his Hogwarts letter and felt that he probably had a strong head start.

If the worst came, Severus knew plenty of hexes. If anyone cursed him, he could fight back. He didn't need help from anybody, and he would not appear weak.

It was a good thing Lily was so chatty - she could have a whole conversation by herself. As she spoke, brow furrowed with worry, all Severus had to do was nod with the occasional "Yeah, I know." This left him mostly free to let his mind wander.

It was a good thing indeed that Lily talked so much, and that Severus didn't have to. If he were to share what was on his mind, he feared that he would lose Lily as a friend, and that was definitely something that he didn't want.

* * *

_**A/N: **__Hope you're enjoying so far! I've decided to start replying to any reviews so you know I'm reading them - I live on reviews. They make up about half the air I breathe. So please review. Seriously, I'm desperate. Also, to anyone trying to read my Sherlock stuff - so sorry I'm not updating, something is wrong with my laptop, where that story happens to be. I've been writing this from my phone, so updates here can continue._


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